Page 1 of Soul Bound (Cursed Descent (MistHallow Academy) #2)

1

MATILDA

I plummet through the darkness, my stomach lurching as I free-fall. Panic claws at my throat, but I force it down. It’s either hit the deck hard or use the magick that is inside me and hope to fuck it works and that these chambers don’t want to kill me… just yet.

Closing my eyes, I picture a feather falling lightly to the ground. “Feather light.”

For a heart-stopping moment, nothing happens. Then, my descent slows as if I’m sinking through water rather than air.

I breathe a sigh of relief, but it’s short-lived as the panic hits me again. I’m falling down a well, alone, in the pitch black. The darkness around me is oppressive, absolute. I can’t see where I’m going or what awaits me at the bottom.

“Light.” A soft glowing orb appears. The crevice I’m falling through is narrow, the walls slick with moisture. But it flickers and goes out at the same time as the feather light spell gives way and I nosedive again only to slam into the ground with a groan.

The impact knocks the wind out of me, leaving me gasping on the cold stone floor. For a moment, I just lie there, trying to catch my breath and assess the damage. Miraculously, nothing seems broken. The feather light spell must have slowed me enough at the end.

The air is stale and heavy, with the scent of decay and dampness.

“Guys?” I call out, my voice echoing in the space. No response. I’m not surprised, but it still makes me shudder.

I’m alone, separated from the others, in the depths of these cursed chambers.

I push myself to my feet, wincing at the various aches and bruises. My backpack is still miraculously attached, and I adjust it, hoping Blackthorn was right about the crystal being everything proof.

I take a deep breath and try to centre myself. I need to find the guys, find the runes, hope not to run into that druid again and figure out what the hell is going on down here.

Taking me by surprise, I whimper slightly at the face I saw under the hood. It couldn’t be. It has to be a trick. It has to be.

“Right, Tilly. Get it together. You can do magick, even if it is on a timer. You have the knowledge to cast basic magick. You can figure this out.”

“Sweetheart, there you are.”

I gulp, my blood running icy cold as I turn towards the voice that I’ve longed to hear so many times since he abandoned me. “Chris.”

The druid moves forward, casting a spell of light that fills the air with sparkling light. “It’s good to see you again, Tilly.”

His blonde hair is ruffled, his eyes as green as the forest around MistHallow stare at me with that intensity that always made me shiver. “You aren’t real.”

“I am.”

I shake my head. “No, you aren’t. This place likes to play tricks. You are not real.”

“I’ve missed you,” he murmurs, moving closer.

“Bullshit,” I snap. “You don’t give a fuck about me. You never did. You used me, made me think I could trust you with your promises, then you fucked me and left me!” The anger and misery that I’d buried so deep bubbles up as I stare at the warlock, my brother’s friend, who made me care about him and trust him before he ripped my virginity away and left me with my family after promising to help me run. I find it horribly glaring that my brother has the shittiest taste in friends. Mind you, they are all as bad as each other.

“I had to leave,” he says quietly. “Your mother found out about us. She forced me to leave.”

For one moment, in a perfect little second, I believe him, but then reality hits me in the face. “You are some kind of Praxian Druid thing!” I screech. “How could my mother force you to leave?”

He smiles, that fucking gorgeous smile that peaks my nipples against my will and my guilt at still being attracted to this prick clashes with my deep desire for my guys. Fortunately for me, the attraction gets wiped away as the smile turns into a chilling laugh.

“Oh, Tilly,” he says, moving even closer, his robes flowing around him. “Still so na?ve.”

“Fuck you. What did you want with me then, and what do you want now?”

“What did I want then? To impregnate you. Too bad you are a barren little witch, not to mention frigid.”

“What?” I stammer as his words hit home, and it’s not the pregnancy part that hurts the most.

In a flash, he is in front of me, pressing his hand on my lower abdomen, over my womb. “I was promised a child, and you failed to deliver. Your family owes me. But you are here now for another go.” He shoves me up against the wall, his hand going between my legs.

I react instinctively, my knee flying up to connect with his balls. Chris grunts in pain and staggers back.

“Don’t fucking touch me,” I snarl, my hands crackling with rainbow magick.

Chris straightens, his eyes flashing dangerously. “Still got some fire in you, I see. Good. This will be more fun than I thought.”

He lunges at me again, but I’m ready this time. I throw my hands out. A blast of force erupts from my palms, sending Chris flying back into the opposite wall.

He hits it with a sickening crack and slides to the ground. For a moment, I think I’ve knocked him out. But then he laughs, a low, wintry sound that echoes off the stone walls.

“Oh, Tilly,” he says, rising to his feet with unnatural smoothness. “You can’t win this fight. You don’t have it in you.”

His form shifts and ripples, like smoke given form. The familiar face I once trusted melts away, replaced by that void of darkness under the hood.

“What are you?” I whisper, backing away.

“I am the past and the future,” the being says, its voice reverberating with power. “I am what was buried here long ago, and what will rise again.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it!” I yell and blast him again, mustering as much power behind it as I can, rainbow light exploding from my hands. The force of it sends me stumbling back, but I keep the stream of energy focused on the hooded figure.

For a moment, it seems to work. The being staggers, its smoky form rippling and distorting. But then it laughs again, that bone-chilling sound that makes my skin crawl.

“Impressive,” it says, straightening. “But futile.”

With a wave of its hand, my magick dissipates like mist in the sun. I gasp, suddenly drained.

“What do you want?” I demand, trying to keep the fear from my voice.

“What I’ve always wanted,” it replies. “To break free of this prison. And you, my dear, are the key.”

It lunges for me again, faster than I can react. Shadowy tendrils wrap around my arms and legs, pinning me in place. I struggle, but it’s like fighting against iron bands.

“Let me go!” I scream, thrashing against the bonds.

“Oh, I don’t think so,” the being purrs. “We have unfinished business.”

Its hand reaches for my face, and I recoil, but there’s nowhere to go.

“Get your fucking hands off her, or I’ll remove them for you.”

Vex appears from the shadows, his dark magick sparking at his fingertips. He looks ruffled, with his shirt torn and a hole in the knee of his combat pants, like he’s been ten rounds with a werewolf under the full moon.

“Oh, the warlock who wants to take what’s mine. Not a chance!” The druidic figure blasts at Vex, but he deflects it with a shield of crackling blue energy.

“She’s not yours,” Vex snarls, his eyes blazing with fury. “And she never will be.”

He launches a barrage of spells at the hooded figure, forcing it back. The shadowy tendrils holding me loosen just enough for me to wrench free. I stumble away, gasping.

“Tilly, run!” Vex shouts, still hammering the being with magick.

But I can’t leave him. Instead, I focus on summoning my own power again. It comes slowly, like drawing water from a nearly dry well, but I manage to conjure a ball of swirling rainbow energy between my palms.

The hooded figure laughs, a sound like a grinding stone. “Fools. You cannot hope to defeat me here, in the heart of my power.”

It raises its arms, and the chamber shakes. Cracks form across the floor and walls. Dark energy seeps through, coalescing around the being.

“Vex, we need to go!” I yell over the rumbling.

He nods grimly, backing towards me while maintaining his barrage. “Any ideas on how?”

“I don’t fucking know! How did you get here?” I look around frantically, searching for an exit. There’s nothing but solid stone walls.

He shakes his head. “One minute, I was in a fight to the death, and the next, I was here.” He grins wickedly. “See, I told you I would always find you. The bond is working.”

“So if it’s working so amazingly, where are Draven and Luc,” I grit out, clinging to the wall so I don’t fall over.

“Good question,” he mutters, gripping my hand. “We can talk about who this arsehole is afterwards, but right now, focus your power, sprinkles. Let it flow through you into me. I’ll do the rest.”

I nod and do as he says. I close my eyes and focus on channelling my magick into Vex. I feel the energy flowing from my core, down my arm, and into his hand. His skin grows hot against mine as he absorbs the power.

“Hold on tight,” Vex says through gritted teeth.

The hooded figure lunges for us just as Vex raises his free hand. A blinding flash of blue and white light erupts from his palm, engulfing us. I feel a wrenching sensation, like I’m being pulled inside out.

When the light fades, we’re in a different part of the chambers. The air is thick and humid here, the walls dripping with moisture. Glowing fungi cling to the stones, casting an eerie pink light.

I sag against Vex, suddenly exhausted. “What was that?”

“Teleportation spell,” he pants, looking almost as drained as I feel. “Took everything I had, even with your power boost. This place needs its arse kicked on a major scale.”

“Thanks for the save,” I murmur. “Any idea where we are now?”

Vex shakes his head. “Deeper in the chambers, I think. But at least away from that thing.”

I shudder, remembering the hooded figure’s cold touch. “Vex, that figure says it was the Praxian magick. But the form it took… it was a warlock who I knew a few years ago. He was friends with my brother, since I was about ten. He was always around our house. Years later, when I was about eighteen, things changed between us. He promised to get me away from my family, promised to save me. I trusted him, and he took my virginity, and then he just left.” Tears prick my eyes as the story tumbles out, even though he didn’t ask. I just need to get it off my chest. “He said before… he said before my family promised him I would give him a child.”

“What?” he snaps, his face fierce. “Your family pimped you out to this fucker?”

“Looks like it,” I say with a sniff. “I don’t even know why I’m so upset after everything else they’ve done.” I wipe at my eyes as Vex’s arms go around me.

“It’s okay to be upset and angry. They are dicks, and they will pay with their lives for what they’ve done to you.”

“Vex…”

“Shh, sprinkles. I’ve got you.” His hand goes into my hair, and I turn my head to rest my cheek against his chest.

We stay like that for a few seconds, but then I pull myself together. “What I don’t understand yet is how he was above ground, but now he is here and has the Praxian magick inside him.”

“Maybe he is one of the original druids who cursed the magick. In fact, it’s probably very likely. He is able to come and go, but the magick was cursed and buried. Without the other druids, he couldn’t uncurse the earth?” he muses, clearly thinking out loud. “So he needed you. The child he wanted, though… I can’t figure that part out. Yet. I will.”

I nearly swoon at how smart he is. I hadn’t managed even a fraction of that analysis. “But if the magick is still cursed, how did he have it?”

“Maybe he doesn’t have it. Maybe he only has whatever has managed to seep out, filtered and weak.”

“Weak?” I croak.

He chuckles. “Weak for whatever is actually still down there. I’m guessing now it is part of him, he can’t leave either. He is stuck down here. Maybe that’s why he never came back for you. He probably had every intention of getting you free from your family, but for his own nefarious purposes. If he got stuck down here, what, three years ago, then…”

“I wish I had your brains,” I mumble.

He grins. “Told you, I’m the brains of this operation.”

“Yeah, yeah. So what am I?”

“You,” he says, cupping my face, “are an utter goddess, Matilda. Never forget that.” He crushes his lips to mine and plunges his tongue into my mouth. I moan, melting against him as his hands roam my body. The kiss deepens, growing heated and desperate. For a moment, I forget where we are, lost in the sensation of Vex’s touch.

A loud crash echoes through the chamber, jolting us apart. We spin around, on high alert.

“What was that?” I whisper, summoning what little magick I have left to my fingertips.

Vex shakes his head, his eyes scanning the shadows. “No idea. But I don’t think we’re alone in here.”

“Not a shock,” I mutter, and then a low growl reverberates off the stone walls. It’s followed by the sound of heavy footsteps growing closer.

“Fuck,” Vex mutters. “We need to move. Now.”

He grabs my hand, and we take off down a narrow passageway, the growls and footsteps pursuing us. The glowing fungi provide just enough light to see by as we run.

“Any idea where we’re going?” I pant as we round another corner.

“Away from whatever that is,” Vex replies grimly. “And hopefully towards Luc and Draven.”